Seth Huston - Program Director

Head coach Seth Huston is in his seventh season at the helm of the Rice Owls’ program and his influence is easy to see. In each of his six previous years at Rice, Huston has helped every member of the team achieve her best personal level of success. Improvement in the individual’s performance has made for better team results, and there is every reason to expect more of the same from Huston’s Owls in the years to come.

Last year was his best season yet. Huston led the Owls to a Top 40 finish at the NCAA National Championships and a second place finish at the Conference USA meet. He coached Brittany Massengale to All-America status in her final year of eligibility, but the Owls’ season didn’t end with the NCAA meet. He went on to coach Massengale and fellow Owl Carlyann Miller into qualifying for the 2008 United States Olympic Trials. At the end of the 2008 school year it was a Huston-coached and recruited swimmer, Diane Gu, who was named the winner of the Joyce Pounds-Hardy Award. The Pounds-Hardy Award is presented to the top female student-athlete at Rice University who achieves the most in her respective athletic competition, academics, community service and campus involvement. As it turns out, all the criteria for the Pounds-Hardy Award have long-been part of Huston’s recruiting checklist.

The 2007 season was a breakthrough year. Not only did Huston coach Rice to its highest-ever finish at a conference championship meet (as the Owls took second at the 2007 C-USA Championships), he coached league champions for both an individual and relay event.

In 2006 his Owl swimmers participated in the U.S. Swimming’s Senior Nationals and, for the first time ever, a Rice swimmer made the United States National Team and represent the country in an international meet. After coaching Massengale to set new school records in the 500, the 1,000 and 1650-freestyle, she competed for the U.S. national team at the Open Water World Championships in Italy. In no small part to her Rice head coach, Massengale also went on to swim in the U.S. Olympic Trials in two pool events and could compete in the international open water events in the future.

Huston coached both Massengale and Diane Gu, then a freshman, to qualifying for the 2006 NCAA Championships. By getting all the members of the Blue & Gray to perform at their peak, the Owls have stepped up with some solid dual meet wins in his tenure such as defeating Miami on the road in Florida, LSU on the road in Baton Rouge, and finishes ahead of Ohio State, Arkansas, TCU, Houston, Colorado State, Nevada and Washington State at multi-team events. The victories have certainly grabbed some attention for Rice swimming, but Huston still has his eye on the bigger picture.

The head coach and his staff have worked hard at training the individual athletes to reach their best, but Huston has worked equally hard at identifying the best student-athletes across the country and bringing them to Rice. In its annual summer wrap up of the top high school performers in the country (a list including both public and private schools), the National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association (NISCA) listed three incoming Owl recruits among the nation’s top seniors in their respective events.

As a result, winning is nothing new to a Huston-coached team. Prior to joining Rice in May of 2002, Huston spent eight years at Truman State University in Kirksville, Mo., where he was the head coach of both the men’s and women’s teams. He is a four-time Division II women’s coach of the year and has won back-to-back Division II national championships in 2001 and 2002. The Truman men tied their best-ever result with a ninth-place finish in 2002.

Huston, 44, has been named the College Swim Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) coach of the year four times and he was the Mid East Championships coach of the year from 1995-98. He has coached the Division II women’s swimmer of the year. Truman State swimmers set eight NCAA Division II meet records during Huston’s tenure, and the school produced more than 100 Division II all-Americas. While at Truman State, Huston coached 22 academic all-Americas (16 women and six men) and both teams have posted 16 consecutive semesters as CSCAA all-academic teams.

The St. Louis native earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education from the University of Tampa in 1988 and a master’s from TCU in 1990, serving as an assistant swim coach at both schools. Before landing the head coaching job at Truman State, Huston spent four years as the head coach and program director of Katy Aquatics in Houston, where he was named age-group coach of the year in 1992. He built a program that produced three top-seven finishes at the Texas Age Group Championships, numerous state champions and a ninth-place men’s finish at the 1994 Junior National Swimming Championships.

An active participant in the U.S. Swimming program, Huston is a member of the CSCAA as well as the American Swimming Coaches Association. He is an ASCA certified coach, having coached swimmers at all levels of excellence from NCAA all-Americas to Olympic Trial qualifiers and U.S. National Team members.

Huston trains and competes in masters swimming, open-water swimming, and enjoys cycling. He and his wife Amy have been married for 19 years, and the couple have three children: Hobie, 15; Hanna, 13; and Eli, 9.

Coach Jason is beginning his third year as Head Coach for RICE Aquatics. Under his leadership the team has grown to over 140 swimmers and seen swimmers achieve a new level of excellence. Coach Jason Wedlick has been coaching for the past 11 years in the Houston area and is an ASCA level 3 coach. Coach Jason has played an important role in the success of Katy Aquatics Age Group program as well as the development of their Pre Competitive and Learn to Swim Programs.

Coach Jason’s ability to implement proper stroke technique and mechanics while keeping the atmosphere fun and enjoyable for the swimmers has allowed his swimmers to achieve success at all levels of swimming. Coach Jason’s swimmers have achieved numerous Gulf, TAGS, and T16 level qualifiers. Coach Jason has been active with the GULF LSC through select coaching of the Gulf All-Star team, Gulf Zone team and "Catch the Spirit" camps. Coach Jason was selected to be the Head Coach of the Gulf Zones Team 2008 which recently traveled to Atlanta to compete against teams from across the southern Uniteds States. Coach Jason also has experience managing Web pages and is an avid photographer.

Jada Hallmark - Assistant Age Group Coach

Jada is in her second year working with Rice Aquatics age group program and coaches both the Navy and White Age Group 1’s. Jada has worked with Rice Aquatics Masters in previous seasons and is currently in her 4th year as the assistant Women’s coach for the  Rice   University  women’s swim team. Jada is a former Rice Owl standout and swam locally at BTA as an age grouper. 

Program directory Seth Huston had this to say about Jada."I think Jada has been a great addition to the team," Huston said. "I have known her since she was 12 or 13 as an age group swimmer for Blue Tide Aquatics. I respect Jada’s opinions and her competitiveness. She has remained close to the Rice program since she graduated and always maintained a very positive and outgoing presence. 

Hallmark is a native of Kingwood,  Texas .

She is married to Patrick Hallmark of Houston, a Rice graduate and 1995 baseball letterman. He currently serves as a volunteer coach for Rice’s nationally-ranked baseball program. The couple have three children. Their oldest son, Christian, is a multi-sport prodigy born in May of 2005. Their second son, Tanner, (also a future Division I star) was born in August of 2007. Their youngest son, Grayson, was born this past March.

Carly Miller - Assistant Age Group Coach

Coach Carly Miller begins her first full year coaching with RICE Aquatics after joining the staff mid year in the  2008-2009 season. Carly helped on an interim basis early in the 2008 season and became a full time coach leading Group 1 and assisting with all other groups within RICE Aquatics. Carly is a recent graduate from RICE and a four year stand out with the women's swim team. During her tenure with RICE she qualified for the 2008 Olympic Trials in the 50 M freestyle.

Carly will be the primary coach for the Age Group 2 swimmers for 2009-2010 season while assisting with Groups 3 and 4. Coach Jason had this to say about Carly, "We are excited to have Carly back for a full year with the RICE Aquatics. Her experience as an age grouper, high school and collegiate swimmer is an invaluable asset to our team. Carly brings an up beat and disciplined demeanor to the team that allows her swimmers to excel."